WWE SmackDown Halloween Edition Viewership Dropped Below Key Threshold

Friday's episode of WWE SmackDown on the USA Network faced some stiff competition and the numbers reflected it.

Not only did the show fall on the same night as Halloween, but it also ran directly against game six of the Major League Baseball World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. Because of that competition, the show saw a steep decline in viewership.

According to a report from Programming Insider, the show dipped below a key WWE threshold: one million viewers. The report indicates that SmackDown on Friday drew 933,000 viewers on average, below the 1.1 million viewers the show drew on the episode a week prior.

Smackdown still ruled the cable rankings and finished first there, but the World Series dominated overall. The game, which saw a victory for the Dodgers that sent the series to a game seven, drew 17.4 million viewers and a massive 3.52 rating with adults 18-49.

WWE Smackdown viewership stumbled ahead of Saturday Night's Main Event

This week's SmackDown featured go-home hype for Saturday Night's Main Event that aired on Peacock against game seven of the World Series. On the SmackDown show, the lead segment was a final contract signing showdown between Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes ahead of their Saturday Night's Main Event Undisputed WWE Championship match.

Rhodes and McIntyre battled on the microphone, with Rhodes digging at McIntyre because he got fired from WWE. McIntyre ended up hitting Rhodes with a Claymore and then dropping him through the contract signing table as the show went off the air.

MORE: Cody Rhodes Discusses Retirement And Whether He'll Sign Another Extension With WWE

In other happenings on the show, Ilja Dragunov retained his WWE United States Championship in an open challenge match against Nathan Frazer, Carmelo Hayes defeated Kit Wilson, WWE Women's World Tag Team Champion Alexa Bliss defeated Nia Jax, and the main event match was Tama Tonga and JC Mateo beating The Motor City Machine Guns

In the past few months, methods for measuring SmackDown viewership and other television programs have changed. This has impacted numbers for not just SmackDown, but NXT, AEW Dynamite, AEW Collision, and others.

Next week on Smackdown, Chelsea Green will challenge Guilia for the WWE Women's United States Championship. Rey Fenix vs. Tala Tonga was also scheduled for next week after Fenix demanded the match after a backstage encounter.

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